Fish hooks have barbs at their ends, the function of which is to prevent the hook from easily exiting the mouth of a fish after the fish has swallowed bait and the hook on which the bait is located. After a fish has been caught the hook has to be released from the mouth of the fish, but this is often difficult because the barb at the end of the fishhook is lodged inside the fish to prevent its removal, as is its normal function. Removal of a fish hook is easier if the barb is lodged just inside the mouth of the fish, but is difficult and sometimes impossible if the hook has been completely swallowed and is deep inside the fish. Thus, there are times that a fisherman loses their hooks and must dissect a fish to recover it.
While some fisherman catch fish to eat, other fisherman catch fish only for sport and they want to release them with little harm immediately after they are caught. Conventional fish hooks create problems in this regard. First, a fish must be taken out of the water in order to attempt removing a fish hook. This in itself shocks the fish which cannot breathe out of water, and this is compounded if there is any difficulty in removing a hook. Second, if a fish hook is caught deep inside the mouth of a fish by the barb, the hook may not be able to be removed without seriously harming or killing the fish. The only alternative is to cut the line and leave the hook caught inside the fish. This is not the best action to take if the fisherman wants to release a fish relatively unharmed.
In the prior art there are fish hooks with hinged and otherwise rotatable barbs that are moved to allow for easier removal of the fish hook from the mouth of a fish. With one prior art fish hook disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,756 the barb is literally hinged. A fish caught with such a fish hook must be removed from the water and the fisherman must reach inside the mouth of the fish to rotate the barb to a position that permits the fish hook to be removed without causing further harm to the mouth of the fish. This is difficult and sometimes impossible if the hook is caught deep inside the mouth of the fish.
With another prior art fish hook disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,217,928 the problems of the hinged fish hook are overcome. The fish hook is hollow, the barb is connected to the end of the fish hook by a relatively thin piece of metal, and there is a piece of metal wire inside the hollow fish hook and fastened to the free end of the barb. The wire extends from the end of the fish hook furthest from the barb, and when the wire is manually pulled by the fisherman the force is transmitted through the wire to the barb which is retracted to permit the hook to easily be removed from the mouth of the fish. However, if the hook is caught deep inside the mouth of the fish access to the wire is difficult and a pair of long nosed pliers are need to reach inside the mouth of the fish and grasp the wire to pull same and release the barb. With this operation the fish must be taken out of the water to remove the barb when the hook is caught deep inside the mouth of the fish. In addition, if the wire that actuates moving of the barb is pulled too far, that is the fisherman tries to pull the wire some more after the barb has been retracted as far as it can go, the wire is often broken. The result is a fishhook that has the same problems and shortcomings as fish hooks that are not designed to be easily removed from mouth of a fish without seriously harming the fish.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a fish hook with a retractable barb that cannot easily be broken, and that can actuated for easy removal of the hook from the mouth of a fish.